FAMOUS TREES 103 



Highway, which runs from San Francisco to Crescent City. When 

 the highway was being built, the president of the Pacific Lumber 

 Co., at Scotia, would not permit the destruction of this unique land- 

 mark, and the sidewalk was swerved to preserve it. 



Multiple tree — freak pine growth. A yellow pine on the Plumas 

 National Forest is really four complete trees growing from the same 

 stump. The sapling was undoubtedly bent and broken by heavy 

 snows, and certain of the branches on the upper side grew upward. 

 Where the sapling touched the ground, another branch started 

 skyward. 



Prayer-book pine tree, Blochman Ranch in Cathey Valley, Mari- 

 posa County. In 1924 a small scar near the base of the tree at- 

 tracted the attention of a student of the University of California. 

 A few probes of a knife blade brought to light tiny bits of paper. 

 By means of a sharp ax which cut through several inches of new 

 growth, a small leather-covered Bible or prayer book was disclosed. 

 In growing over the wound, the tree had completely covered the 

 volume with a coat of pitch, so that the leather was still somewhat- 

 flexible. The paper was found in good condition and the print legi- 

 ble, but because of the pressure on the top and bottom of the book, 

 it is impossible to turn the pages. This is a splendid example of the 

 prowess of tree growth in closing a wound. Ring counts have not 

 been made on the cut, but it seems likely that the tree had the little 

 volume in its keeping for more than half a century. 



CONNECTICUT 



A magnificent old elm stands on the property of Rutherford Pratt 

 at Hamburg. It has grown around a gravestone bearing the name 

 Jasper Gray and the date 1782. As a sapling the tree was evidently 

 planted at or near the head of the grave. 



About a mile below Winchester, a maple tree 8 or 10 feet in cir- 

 cumference has grown upon a split rock apparently drawing its 

 sustenance up through the cleft. 



A hollow oak, said to be the oldest tree in Derby, stands at the 

 southwestern end of the Colonial Cemetery there. In the hollow of 

 the trunk are two old gravestones. 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 



An alianthus embracing an iron fence grows in front of 616 Sixth 

 Street, NW. This tree of heaven has grown around an upright as 

 well as the horizontal frame of the fence. 



FLORIDA 



Nature's symbol of the "Gator State." The root of a banyan tree 

 has taken the form of an alligator at Fort Lauderdale. 



Live Oak with roots exposed so that the tree appears to be growing 

 on a table of its own manufacture in the Ocala National Forest 

 (fig. 48). 



GEORGIA 



Double pine grows on Pine Mountain in Harris County near 

 Columbus. This is a longleaf pine, starting as two trees 6 feet apart 



